All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

One of our favourite beers is returning this coming Monday!  HazySexyCool, our New England Style IPA (NEIPA) will be hitting our taps July 24th.  Released back in March 2017 for the first time, this beer only lasted 5 days. Thankfully this second batch was made on our newer, bigger 7 barrel brewhouse so we hope it lasts a little longer.

 

WHAT IS A NEIPA?

In case you’re wondering what the heck a NEIPA is and how it is different from a ‘regular’ American IPA we’ll break it down for you. 

For the past few decades, American IPAs have typically been clear, crisp and dry, with an assertive bitterness from the copious amounts of West Coast hops. It was the West Coast breweries that made the IPA style so popular.

While the NEIPA style certainly doesn’t shy away from hops, the bitterness is not in your face like in a typical West Coast IPA. NEIPAs are characterized as being hazy, having a creamier mouthfeel, with the hops lending an extremely juicy citrus or tropical character, while overall having a softer, more rounded bitterness.  It all boils down to an IPA that is a little more approachable with a higher drinkability factor (cha-ching!).

The differences in the two styles of IPAs comes right down to the malt bill and yeast, as well as how the hops are used. Don’t get us wrong though, we are huge fans of both styles of IPAs, we just want to make sure no one misses out on this latest craze for hazy, juicy IPAs.

 

OUR TAKE

We used flaked oats and wheat malt in addition to our regular 2-row pale malt, to provide that thicker mouthfeel as well as contribute to that hazy, unfiltered look and feel.  Instead of our regular yeast, we used a yeast strain that contributes more of a fruity character. For hops, we used first wort hopping to provide a nice rounded bitterness, and then everything else went in at the end of the boil, the whirlpool or dry hop to focus on the aroma and flavour of the Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado hops.  

Finally, the name HazySexyCool is a jab at how popular this style has gotten lately, because all the cool kids are brewing it, not to mention the TLC reference we couldn't resit.  The haze craze has taken the craft brewing world by storm and the Yukon shouldn’t miss out. That's why we are here!  The popularity of this newish beer style is no hype, this is truly a very enjoyable style of IPA, best enjoyed as fresh as possible. So get it while you can straight from the source, in a growler to go or a pint to stay at the Tasting Room, starting July 24th.